Boom tent

[seandwyer]

Hey, Guys,

Does anyone have dimensions for the ideal boom tent width that can be easily put in place while afloat? I'm sort of disheartened by the amount of money these things cost, so I'm thinking about trimming a less expensive tarp and putting in my own grommets to size. Dimensions I'm asking for are to be used for camping and fastening the sides to the rail with those stainless clips Rudy sells.

Thanks,

Sean

[TIM WEBB]

Funny you should mention this, as I was just outside measuring for such a thing!

Have a sail-camping trip coming up next weekend (WCTSS IRLC), and want to have a boom tent along just in case it pours, in addition to my tent/cot thingy for sleeping aboard. The measurements I've come up with are at least 12-15 ft abeam, and at least 10-12 ft fore/aft. I'm gonna go get a tarp as close to those dimesions I can find, trim it to size, and use clamps to hold it to the rail if I need it. Even if I don't, I'll set it up and take some better measurements after the trip, and make a proper one out of Sunbrella, with foreflaps and such ...

[TIM WEBB]

OK, here's what I've come up with, at least for next weekend (pix in my gallery):





9' x 12' Heavy duty tarp from Wally World and a few clamps. I'll use 4 on each side in actual practice. 9' just about covers the fore and aft length, and the 12' abeam is plenty to be able to raise the boom enough to accommodate the tent/cot. The trick is being able to put the clamps in place while aboard the boat: you have to work from front to back or vice-versa.

Yes, I know that at anchor if it's pouring rain *and* windy, rain will blow in the front, but my main aim is for something relatively easy and quick to deploy so I can set up the tent/cot, shed wet rain gear/clothing, and curl up in bed nice and cozy and dry! ;-P

[K.C. Walker]

I use a small heavy duty poly tarp for a boom tent, also. I can't quite remember the dimensions and it's up in New Hampshire and I'm in Connecticut. I think that it's 10x12. The finished dimension is smaller because the dimensions are rough and they hem them. I use the 12 foot dimension lengthwise (which is like 11+) so it goes from the end of the boom and then wraps a bit around the mast. To secure it to the boat I bought a jug of 24 inch bungees with plastic hooks on both ends from Home Cheapo. I cut the bungee's in half, sear the ends, slide them through the grommets and tie a square knot. The hooks fit over the rub rail. It does take a little bit of rigging to get the bungee lengths all the way you want them, but that's not too bad. I do use a bungee at each grommet along the rail. It's pretty easy to hook and unhook them from inside the cockpit.

I close the ends a bit by putting a line through the grommets and cinching it up a bit. Even though it's not all that tight, it did go to a tropical storm last summer with no one around and only had about an inch of water in the bilge.

Mine's not as high as yours Tim but with the bungees keeping good tension on the tarp there's no wind noise flapping and I think it would hold up to a pretty good breeze. Actually, it has held up to a pretty good breeze.

[Merlin-2977]

I use a 8' x 10' tarp from home depot and some hooks I took off a Thule bungee net. However, I have found that pieces of 1 1/4' PVC pipe with a section cut out that is wide enough to slide over the coaming works better. Then drill two holes for a ball bungee. slide the two pieces through and tie knots in the bungee to prevent them from pulling through. It also is less likely to catch on everything in the cockpit.

I have sat in the boat with the cover on - fairly comfortable

[K.C. Walker]

Merlin,

+1 on the hooks catching on everything in the boat! I cut my coamings flush with the deck but maybe I could use your clips on my rub rails.

[seandwyer]

Thanks, Guys,

Tim--I think I came up with the same tent as you, although I visited my local Harbor Freight. The dimensions seem the same, as does the look. I throw it over the boom while it's on the trailer and it drapes down a foot or so on each side where I then bungee it to the trailer. I hadn't thought of just raising the boom with the tarp until I can fasten the bungees to the rub rail instead. That seems a good idea. Have you had that in some wind yet? I wonder how much it would catch and rock the boat around at that height verses the standard height of the boom when rigged?

KC--good idea about the plastic hooked bungees. I had been thinking only of the stainless clips (which are not cheap).

Merlin--I think your measurements are correct at the tarp being about 8' wide if the boom is not to be raised. I can't quite picture your use of PVC pipe on the coamings, though. Do you have any pictures? The way I imagine it is that you have a piece of pipe with a thickness cut out of one wall so it fits over the coaming. Then drill holes for the ball end bungees to go through which would in turn go through the grommets and be fastened somehow inboard. That said, I can't understand how shed water would not be directed inside of the coaming, or how the tension from the bungees doesn't lift the pipe off the coaming.

Thanks everyone. Once I get something put together I will post pictures--if the end result seems worthy of taking credit for it, that is.

[TIM WEBB]

No, as yet I've only rigged up the boom tent on the trailer in the yard, in no-wind conditions. I intend to rig it up on the water this weekend, whether I need it or not, as a test, since I did not get a chance to set this up with it to make sure it's tall enough to clear:



Not too worried about windage, as at anchor the boat would be head to wind. K.C., did your boat weather that storm at anchor/mooring or on the hard/trailer?

[K.C. Walker]

Tim,

The boat weathered the storm at our dock, with five lines attached. The winds were definitely at the low end, but the rain…wow.

[TIM WEBB]

I hear ya! In FL, there are two kinds of rain: hard rain with wind, and hard rain without wind ...

Sean: never be afraid to post pics. You never know what someone else might learn from them, or you from theirs. ALL ideas are pic-worthy, as you know what they say about 1000 words ...

[TIM WEBB]

Well, I've finally finished my new boom tent project. Can't wait to try it out "live"!

The main goals were to keep rain out of the cockpit while I set up the tent/cot (which *really* keeps the rain (and bugs) out!), shade, and privacy. It's in no way intended to be airtight, or even "bugtight" for that matter. In fact, I want it to "breathe". It's made from 1000 denier K-coated Cordura, although I'm wondering if zero-porosity ripstop nylon might have been a better choice ... ?

I still need to spray it with some silicone waterproofing stuff I picked up, but you need 48 hours with no rain for that, and that ain't happ'nin' around here these days! It's been up for a couple of very rainy days now, and even without the spray, it only weeps a little bit of water along where the tent poles come in contact. I may find I need to re-design it to have the poles on the outside ...

Anyhoo, if you're interested, take a look at the pix in my gallery, and read the descriptions to get a better idea of what's what. ;-P


http://daysailer.org/forum/gallery/image_page.php?album_id=100&image_id=1817
http://daysailer.org/forum/gallery/image_page.php?album_id=100&image_id=1816
http://daysailer.org/forum/gallery/image_page.php?album_id=100&image_id=1815
http://daysailer.org/forum/gallery/image_page.php?album_id=100&image_id=1814

[GreenLake]

In a word: impressive!

[TIM WEBB]

In a word: impressive!

Thanks! Oh, and thanks for adding the links - meant to do that - it was late ... ;-P

[K.C. Walker]

I like it! At some point, when you have the cot set up inside, I be interested in seeing another photo.

What are you using for sockets on deck to hold the umbrella poles?

[K.C. Walker]

Nevermind, I just figured out that it has sockets in the tent itself.